Grow Up
by SirGalactaKnight
Summary: A short drabble about some events N experienced growing up.


-4 Years Old-

Quiet television is blaring in the background. Some informational children's show is playing, and a toddler is watching with intense focus while two older sisters are fixing their beds. The toddler, a young boy that liked to be called 'N', was absentmindedly playing with a void cube while watching the show his father had turned on for him and his sisters. The show was a documentary on wild pokemon, although the children already knew most of what the show was telling them.

"Brother, you mustn't sit so close." Anthea, one of the sisters, scolded N. He looked back, blinking a few times before bowing his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry." he muttered, scooting back a couple of feet. Concordia, the other sister, walked over and sat next to him, carrying his Zorua gently. The small pokemon yawned and stretched, hopping from Concordia's arms to settle in N's lap.

"He likes you more than me." Concordia noted. N ran his fingers through the pokemon's fur affectionately.

"I don't think so. Zorua likes all of us!" The fox pokemon barked quietly. "See?" Concordia smiled, not speaking so as to not ruin her brother's mood. Anthea came to sit down next to them, and they sat in silence for a while watching the show.

Zorua, bored with the human show, left N's lap to go and find some of its friends. It lept onto N's bed to wake a small Darumaka by nudging it until it finally cracked open one of its eyes. Zorua quietly yipped at it, receiving a soft bat on his nose from the other pokemon, its way of saying 'hush'. The fox pokemon growled, hopping away to let his stubborn friend sleep. No point to continue bothering them. Settling back down next to N, he attempted to rest his eyes until someone came to play with him.

-8 Years Old-

"Zorua, will you help our friend?" N asked between sobs, shaking as he tried to hold out the hurt Pidove. The bird's wings were torn up and bloody, and it was cooing in pain. Zorua came forward to let N lay the bird on his back, then quickly ran towards the healing room where he knew Anthea and Concordia would be. N would've done it himself, but he was still frozen in fear, and could not make himself leave. The sage who had saved the Pidove couldn't calm him, so it'd be up to his father to do so while his sisters tried to fix the Pidove's wings.

Nudging the door to the healing room open, Zorua barked to get the sisters' attention. Quick on their feet, they picked up the Pidove and hurried to get its wings wrapped up. Zorua whined a little, and Concordia pat his head.

"We will help them, don't worry Zorua. Now go get yourself cleaned, alright?" Then she was at her sister's side, and Zorua sulked out of the room, quickly making his way back to N. The boy had barely managed to contain his sobs, but did quiet when Zorua came and curled up in his lap. N pet him, shaking still, breathing labored. When the door opened again, the children's father - Ghetsis - came in, frowning miserably.

"Natural." he said, voice low. N didn't say anything. "Please answer me boy."

"Y-Yes papa?" Ghetsis leaned down, hand outstretched.

"Come on and get off the ground when I speak to you." he said, waiting for his son to take his hand. N grabbed his hand and stood, waiting for Zorua to leap from his lap before doing so. Zorua hid behind N's legs - he never had liked N's father all that much. Something about the man seemed wrong.

"You saw that Pidove, did you not?" Ghetsis asked.

"Yes papa…" N sniffed, wiping at his nose. "W-what happened to it? Why did M-Mr. Rood give it to me?" At this point, N had contained the majority of his sobs - he knew his father would be irritated if they constantly disrupted him.

"Natural, you and I both know what happened to that pokemon." Ghetsis sighed, shaking his head. "We saved it from a trap set by humans." The sage crouched down to look N straight in the eye. "This is what people do. They don't have a single bit of remorse for pokemon."

"But why?!" N shouted, tears forming in his eyes again. "Why don't they care? It's not fair!" He stamped his foot angrily.

"Natural that is enough!" Ghetsis said, grabbing the boy's shoulder to still him. Zorua growled in warning, receiving a glare back from the otherwise unphased sage. N stopped, looking down at the ground in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry papa… I'm sorry."

"You know as king you won't be able to lose your temper in such a way." N looked up, opening his mouth to say something, but Ghetsis held up his hand as a sign for him to hold his tongue. "People are cruel, both the each other and pokemon. Humans are selfish creatures that use pokemon as weapons because they believe they are lower than them. They don't care." Ghetsis emphasized his last word, to get through N's head so he'd heed his words. Whatever N had been wanting to say, he seemed to have forgotten, instead just hanging his head again.

"I want to help them…"

"Look at me when you speak, Natural." N looked up, a mix of sadness and anger expressed in his features.

"I want to help them!" His fists were clenched, and he stamped his foot again. "I want to keep them safe!" Ghetsis smiled warmly and pat N's head.

"That's what we're training you for, my boy. That's what we're training you for." Zorua noticed there was something off about how Ghetsis said this, and growled again angrily. As Ghetsis hugged N, he shot Zorua a nasty look, but smiled again before letting his son go.

"Now, go get yourself cleaned up. You and Zorua are both dirty."

-15 Years Old-

N wandered the halls of the castle, messing with the void cube his father had gifted him when he'd first found him - 12 years ago. It was rather late, but he didn't have to go to bed yet, and he had nothing else to attend to. So he found himself wandering the halls aimlessly, as he often did. After not being able to spend as much time with his pokemon friends, he'd been more restless and anxious. But his father made him do so - it trained him to not be as connected so he could keep them safe. Because people and pokemon, with Team Plasma's help, would be separated.

He and his friends would have to be separated, for their safety.

N stopped walking, biting his lip as the thought crossed his mind. It was painful to acknowledge - pokemon were his friends, but he'd have to leave them too in the end. His father had made a point to make sure he knew that. For his sake, according to the sage. Didn't make it any less painful, but he at least understood why.

A soft thud behind him made him jerk around, facing 3 individuals that were silent. The Shadow Triad.

"Your father requests your presence, Lord N." one of the black-clad masked figures said. N frowned. He really did not want to talk to his father at that point in time. Not while he was upset about the mission. His father wouldn't like hearing he still got upset about it. Although not going to him would probably be worse. Sighing, N stopped fiddling with the void cube, letting it hang in it's normal spot on his necklace.

"Alright. Thank you." N said, although the one who had spoke stepped forward and gently grasped his arm.

"We are to take you to him." Before N could say anything else, the other two had also stepped forward, and the four were teleported in front of Ghetsis' chamber doors. N felt dizzy, still not used to the powers that the Triad had. They didn't let go until he was steady, then opened the door for him.

"Thank you." He muttered, and they bowed, before quickly slinking away into the shadows. Shutting the door behind him, N waited patiently for Ghetsis to acknowledge him. The sage was currently writing something down in a small leather book, one good scarlet eye focused intently.

"Sit." Ghetsis said, still writing. "I will speak with you in a moment." N gulped; there seemed to be irritation in his father's voice. He quickly sat down in a chair across from his father, instinctively fiddling with the void cube again.

The room was silent for a good couple of minutes, apart from the scratching of Ghetsis' pen. N looked around, taking in the room in curiosity - he'd never been in the room for more than a minute or two. The desk they sat at was an old wooden desk, marred with scratches from pokemon. A small carved statue of a hydreigon sat on one corner, with notepads and pencils sitting beside it. There were papers whose contents that N knew nothing of that lay in a neat pile on the other side.

Scrolls and pictures with ancient writing were spread across the room in the wall, telling stories of old Unovian folktales and myths. On the far side of the room was a door that led to Ghetsis' bedroom, but the door was closed and locked. The walls otherwise were bare, showing the beginnings of decay in the old stones. The floor had a thin red carpet, and the drapes over the windows were of a similar color. All in all, the room was boring and bare apart from the pictures on the wall. It wasn't very colorful, and was unwelcoming to those who entered. N wondered how his father could stand to be in such a bland, empty room. The most colorful thing in there was Ghetsis himself, with his multicolored robes that pooled around him in his seat.

"Natural, we need to talk." Ghetsis finally said, laying down his pen and shutting the book he'd been writing in. Setting that down as well, he looked at N, scowling. N wasn't sure what he'd done wrong, but he shrank down in his father's cold stare.

"What is it, f-father?" he stuttered, almost whining.

"Sit up. This is important." N sat back up, shaking. "I've noticed that you've been a bit more restless as of late." Ghetsis stopped, weighing his words in his mind, before continuing. "I was content with it being due to your age. I know as a teenager you probably are wanting to move around more, and I understand. However, you've been wandering places in the castle that you know are off limits." Ghetsis leaned forward slightly. "Those areas are off limits for a reason. You know that don't you?"

"Of course I do." N muttered, ashamed that he'd been caught. He hadn't gone in the areas with intent to figure out what was there, he had just wandered there absentmindedly on mistake.

"If that's true, why were you in there?" Ghetsis asked, his voice menacing.

"I didn't do it on purpose. I just wasn't paying attention." N knew there was no point in trying to come up with a lie. It'd only get him in worse trouble.

"You weren't paying attention?" N nodded, receiving an irritated sigh from his father. "Why not? Natural, you are training to become a king. You can't just wander around with no sense of what you're doing. It's extremely irresponsible!"

"I'm sorry father!" N nearly shouted, irritation in his tone. "But the castle is so big and ever since you've kept my friend separated from me, everything is so different! The lessons are boring and I just…" N stopped to catch his breath, tears in his eyes, "I know this is all to help my friends. But it hurts so much. I tried to keep myself from going crazy by walking around and by now I'm just wandering." He took a shaky breath, attempting to brace himself for his father's anger. But instead he was met with silence. Ghetsis had closed his eyes, brow creased in thought. It stayed this way for a while, until Ghetsis finally looked at N.

"I can see this is affecting you deeply Natural. So much so that it's getting in the way of your training." N opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by his father. "It has occurred to me now that I didn't think this through enough. So, I'll make you a deal. I'll let your friend Zorua stay with you. Let him… be your companion, so to speak." N's eyes widened. His father was really going to let him have Zorua again?

"Oh th-"

"But." Ghetsis said, "If I do this, you are going to make sure you improve your performance. In both your training, and your behavior. Which means that you will no longer be going places you shouldn't. Am I understood?"

"Of course father!" N said, nodding. "I promise I'll be much better!"

"Good. Now, I have some other matters to attend to. Go ahead and head back to your room. Zorua should be in there."

"Oh thank you so much!" N jumped up out of his chair excitedly. "I promise I won't let you down!" Ghetsis watched him as he left the room, bounce in his step, and scowled.

"You'd best not, for both our sakes."

-26 Years Old-

N lay in the grass, letting the sun hit his face. It was an unusually warm day for Unova, and N figured he bask in the light (quite literally) while he had the chance. The summer was almost over, which saddened him a bit. He'd grown attached to the bright sun, summer breeze, and all the friends that came out to enjoy the sun, just like himself.

Plus, it seemed strange to him at this point to be stuck inside. It'd been a few years after the latest events with his father - no, Ghetsis - had gone down, and while he hadn't any clue where the man was now, he knew that he was very lucky to be free of him. There was a part of him that felt bad that Ghetsis had 'lost heart' as the Shadow Triad had told him in their final encounter. From what he knew of him, that probably meant he was nearly broken. But N tried to not think too deeply on it. He'd done that in the two years he'd left with Zekrom. That's what those two years had been for - to think. Although Ghetsis had come back, scarier than ever, almost crushing all that N had thought he learned during that time.

But there had been others there to help him. His sisters, of course, but also other people he'd encountered. Trainers, gym leaders, kids, adults… all these different people, who had shown him so many different things. Some weren't good - that's just how it goes in life - but the good certainly overcame the bad, and gave him a chance to learn and grow. And he had done a lot of that he felt. He recognized that there still was much more for him to do before he felt he had truly grown up, but he was getting there. He was getting there, and he had the people and pokemon in his life that'd help him do that.

A small pink tongue licking his face brought N out of his thoughts, and he laughed as he gently pushed back the small Lillipup that had ambushed him. Sitting up, he pat his lap, letting the small creature hop in and start licking his face again.

"You're full of energy aren't you?" He asked, petting the creature, getting a happy bark in return. The small dog-like pokemon had been given to him as a gift from Lenora. He'd spent a lot of time in Nacrene, and she was one of the first gym leaders he'd found himself comfortable around. When her recently evolved Stoutland had puppies, she'd given one to him as a gift, saying that she knew they would be safe in his care. He'd been grateful - it'd been a long time since he'd had a pokemon by his side - and now he'd grown quite attached to the young puppy.

"Brother, how much longer are you going to stay out there?" Anthea called from the door, smiling. "We need help cleaning; we're going to have visitors coming!" N sighed, standing up and watching Lillipup run around his feet.

"I'm coming, just give me minute!" He looked down at Lillipup, who had finally chosen to stand in front of him, tail wagging frantically. "Looks like I've got to help out. But afterwards you and and I will play alright?" The Lillipup barked, understanding, then darted off to play with the nearby wild pokemon that often visited the area. Chuckling, N headed inside, smile on his face.

He still had a lot to do. But he was free, and he wasn't alone. And that's what he needed.


End file.
